With 40 state symbols, Texas has icons galore

SYMBOLIC LEGISLATIONIt's official: Texas has icons galoreWith 40 sanctioned symbols and counting, our state is well-represented with all manner of flora, fauna and food

JEFFREY GILBERT, Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

Published
5:30 am CDT, Sunday, May 1, 2005

AUSTIN - The state bird? OK, that's an easy one, the mockingbird. The state flower? The bluebonnet, of course. But what about the state flower song? Or the state dinosaur? Those may have been left out of your elementary education.

Each legislative session, constituents lobby their lawmakers to file resolutions creating new state symbols everything fromas varied as the state pastry to and the state folk dance.

This year, resolutions already have been debated to make the chuck wagon the official vehicle, the Dutch oven the official cooking implement and the purple sage the official native shrub. Why the native shrub, you ask? Well, the crape myrtle, the original state shrub since 1997, isn't from Texas.

"It's kind of like we're going to have the state brick and the state ant, and we really probably need to vet those a little bit better," said Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, a co-sponsor of the chuck-wagon resolution.

While the Dutch oven and chuck wagon have been passed by the Senate, and the purple sage has been approved by the House, many others are still waiting to be debated.

To become official, the legislation must pass through both chambers and be signed by the governor.

Pending are resolutions to designate an official state bread (pan de campo), dog breed (the Blue Lacy) and tall ship (the Elissa). Tall ship because the original official ship is already taken. The USS Texas has held that honor since 1995.

Texas, along with Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina, are the only states with at least 40 symbols. The bad news is that we rank second, behind Georgia. But if lawmakers pass at least two of the resolutions, Texas will pull ahead of the pack.

"It goes back to the overwhelming pride Texans have for their state," says Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, who sponsored the purple sage resolution. "And symbols like this represent our state."

President Bush is proud of his Texas heritage. On a recent trip to his Crawford ranch, Bush told Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah about "our state flower" being out in full force this time of year.

Symbols' origins vary

Designations such as the tall ship and native shrub are not uncommon to Texans. We already have three official mammals — small (armadillo), large (longhorn) and flying (Mexican free-tailed bat) — plus a native pepper (chiltepin), in addition to the original official pepper (jalapeno).

Lawmakers said the ideas for new symbols come from Texans or proponents of certain items who want them to become part of the state aura.

Last session, after a group of second-grade students in Mission said the state lacked an official snack, legislators adopted chips and salsa.

This year, after doing some research and realizing the state shrub wasn't native to Texas, Thomas Adams, a botanist in Angleton, became very upset.

Adams said the society debated the pros and cons of many shrubs but decided on the purple sage because of its aesthetic qualities.

"I originally wanted them to dump the crape myrtle," Adams said. "It's from China, and that doesn't represent Texas very well. But I'll take the native shrub designation."

Though Adams may have wanted the myrtle cut from the list, Bonnen said most lawmakers try to avoid fights since these are simply honorary measures. He said he could have lobbied for the purple sage to displace the crape myrtle, but he didn't want to take the myrtle away.

Measuring historical value

Duncan thinks only items that hold true historical value to the state should even be considered. He is critical of the process, and has resisted sponsoring these resolutions before.

But Duncan said he sponsored the chuck wagon legislation because it "was quite frankly a historical item. We still use the chuck wagon today in ranch situations."

Sen. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, sponsored the effort to make the Dutch oven the official state cooking implement.

He said while lawmakers may debate five to six such resolutions per session, they can be a nice change of pace from the discussions on school finance, taxes and health care.

The 1997 Legislature passed 10 resolutions, the most of any group of lawmakers.

"They break up our regular routine, and draw attention to honorary things while you're working on other items," he said.

Texas symbols range from obvious to odd. While cotton is the official fiber and chili is the official dish, the horned lizard is the official reptile and the lightning whelk is the official shell.

"As I was a kid growing up, I knew the bluebonnet, the mockingbird and the pecan as the three things," Duncan said. "Now you've got things like the state bug, and I think we've gone too far."